An armed group at the heart of a long-standing ethnic conflict in northeastern Democratic Republic of Congo attacked a camp for displaced persons on Friday, killing ten people, local sources confirmed to AFP.
The assault took place in Ituri province, which borders Uganda and has witnessed years of violent clashes between the Lendu—mainly settled farmers—and the Hema, traditionally nomadic herders. Thousands of civilians have died, and many more have been displaced.
According to the camp’s leader, Richard Likana, the attack on Djangi camp was carried out by the Cooperative for the Development of Congo (Codeco), a militia aligned with the Lendu and previously blamed for civilian massacres.
“They were heavily armed with guns and machetes. They caught us off guard and killed ten displaced persons, most of them women and children,” Likana stated.
A Red Cross worker, who spoke anonymously, confirmed the attack, which occurred roughly 60 kilometres from Bunia. “Some victims were hacked with machetes, others were shot,” the worker added.
Colonel Ruffin Mapela, the Congolese army officer and administrator of Djugu territory where the camp is located, corroborated the death toll and said 15 others were injured.
Humanitarian and local sources noted that Codeco was also responsible for a deadly attack on 10th February that killed 51 displaced persons in the same province, reportedly in retaliation for an assault by the Hema-led Zaire militia.
The violent conflict between Hema and Lendu communities claimed thousands of lives between 1999 and 2003 and only ceased following European military intervention. It resumed in 2017 and has since displaced over 1.5 million people, according to the United Nations.